A few people have asked me this fall about pressing their own apple cider and juice. This is a little more complicated than making, say, apple sauce — but if you have a bumper crop of apples and want to make cider yourself, this is how you do it, brought to you by Aimée of Simple Bites.

When I was in Montreal a week ago I visited Aimée at her lovely house outside the city, and she made me the most amazing apple cider I've ever had. As we chatted about her own homestead and backyard garden (watch for a peek right here later this month!) she mentioned that her brother and his wife just took homesteading to a whole new level by building their own cider press. "I have to see that!" I said.

So, courtesy of Aimée and Simple Bites, here's how her brother built a cider press. It's not a small project, although ultimately quite simple. The centerpiece is an apple and fruit crusher they bought off Amazon, and they built a frame and tub to complete the setup.

With this homemade rig, they pressed 50 liters of apple juice one weekend, and another 50 liters the following week. And what are they doing with all that cider? Well, homemade apple juice leads to even better beverages, like fermented apple cider. Read on at Simple Bites for more of the story of building a cider press, making homemade cider, and what to do with it.

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Faith is the executive editor of The Kitchn and the author of three cookbooks. They include The Kitchn Cookbook, coauthored with Sara Kate Gillingham, as well as Bakeless Sweets. She lives in Columbus, Ohio with her husband Mike.